The title of the thread may actually be dangerous to our mental health. Many people have benefited from the use of drugs for depression. Others have led miserable lives that culminated in the commission of crimes of violence like murder and infanticide because their symptoms were un-noticed or noticed and dismissed. Yet others have been "treated" or "mistreated" with heavy doses of religion and went on to become "fanatics" who made the lives of others deeply miserable and tragic.

The good doctor who wrote this article was really saying that drugs are not a silver bullet for curing depression and that the picture is very complicated. Most of us have been brain-washed into believing that drugs "cure" mental illness.

This is my own personal experience being "the sane someone" "the silent witness" who had to confront the consequences of severe forms of mental illness in my own family many times. At least 10 immediate relatives going back 3 generations.

Severe forms of depression and psychosis have struck many different people close to me. Here is what the media will never tell you.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/health-and-nutrition/30159-why-anti-depressants-dont-work-treating.html

Drugs "manage" mental illness. Drugs do not "cure" mental illness. Most forms of it have biological origins. You must seek medical assistance and you must seriously entertain the possibility that drugs will help you even if they will not cure you. Every single example of a paranoid schizophrenic who kills dozens in a shopping mall, or a depressed woman who drowns her children, is a story about someone who was self-medicating, not medicating, or abandoning professional medical interventions in favor of wacky new age solutions. Or their families refused to get treatment for them in time because they were ashamed, unaware, or fooled by "alternative" theories of causes and cures.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=30159

Bottom line. Drugs do not cure they manage. Some people cannot be helped by drugs, but they are less than 20 percent of the population. If you or your relative suffers from severe mental illness and does not seek professional medical interventions, then fine, plan to live in chaos and suffering indefinitely. The end will surely be a tragic one for someone. This is a very complicated issue only made worse by amateurs. If you decide that I am ranting and overly opinionated and that bothers you, I am not offended.